Sunday was absolutely miserable in Montana–the smoke was so thick you could actually smell and taste it. Your eyes burned, our throats were raspy, we were sneezing–it was terrible and the situation has only improved marginally. The above photo was taken Sunday evening as we were coming home from having dinner at Lonn’s. The haziness is smoke.
Monday morning not so bright and early we started for Spokane with two missions in mind. First off we haven’t seen our friend Mary since July of 2016 and we hadn’t met her new companion, Maybelline, an English cocker. Maybelline is the sweetest dog–a little high energy as she is young–but so sweet. Emmi wasn’t impressed–the grump!
We enjoyed our visit with Mary so much–we met Mary and her husband Gene in 2003 while participating in the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting. We’ve taken trips with them–they led us around to Washington state parks one summer–an amazing trip which included Olympic National Park, Port Townsend and other towns on the Washington coast. Gene died in 2013 and is sorely missed! Mary has a beautiful home in a Spokane neighborhood with a gorgeous back yard–lots of green grass for the dogs and beautiful trees/shrubs.
Mary sent us off after breakfast Tuesday morning for our other mission–motorhome shopping. And we came home empty handed. We had a list of four to view–the first one had been sent to the auction yard just a few days ago (hmmm–maybe we didn’t want that one!) The second one was a gas motorhome–a Tiffin Allegro–nope, not for us. The third was a Country Coach and we had high hopes only to lose those high hopes when we walked inside the coach! That motorhome had issues no one had even discovered as of yet! The floors and carpet had at some time obviously been wet–there were water marks on the cabinetry!! The bay doors and trays were rusted and supposedly the motorhome, a 2001, had only 17,000 miles on the odometer!–if that’s the case that was a really hard 17,000 miles!! And the salesman was a real used car salesman–he had no answers for the water marks or rust–onward.
The fourth motorhome was a Winnebago Itasca Meridian–a 34 foot diesel pusher–2005 model. It was a nice motorhome but we just couldn’t make ourselves pay their asking price. So–that was that! We went back to Mary’s and enjoyed an adult beverage and a fabulous dinner.
Today we said our “see you later” to Mary and headed back to Montana–it’s about 475 miles from Spokane to our house and it’s a beautiful drive when you can view the scenery. Spokane had hazardous air quality the whole time we were there–it was miserable. At one time today as we were driving I said to the Cowboy, “it’s as if we are driving across the prairies of Nebraska.”–the mountains were so obscured by the smoke. As I said, the air quality is marginally better here at our home but only marginally!
That fourth motorhome was located north of Spokane near Sandpoint–the owners had a lot/house on Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Pond de ray.) Their house was located nine miles from the main highway on a narrow very crooked road. On the way back to the highway we spotted wildlife–
We stopped in town for a short visit with Nat and headed up the Boulder–it’s good to be home.
Restoration Cowboy Style 
I feel for you! We have lived with that smoke for quite some time now. Also our house is surrounded by tall trees, very scary when one knows how tinder dry everything is. May the good Lord help us all!
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We’ve had about an inch of rain over the last couple days but the rain isn’t falling where it’s most needed–on those huge fires in the west and British Columbia!
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I lived near Spokane for a few decades, and have lots of memories, but one of the most dramatic was firestorm 1991. It was terrifying, and literally pitch dark at 3 in the afternoon of October 19th. I lived in the timber overlooking Coeur d Lake Lake, and have friends who still live on Pend Oreille Lake. We were all so incredibly scared as so many houses went up in flames, no phones, no power, no idea what was happening except the wind and the flames and the dark skies. As many have said, fire season has only just begun for some of this dry country out west. I am now reading “The Big Burn” about the 1910 fire that burned Wallace to the ground. You drove through Wallace, well maybe above Wallace, right? Sorry you didn’t find a motorhome that was perfect, but you know you will eventually. Good luck on your search. Still nice that you had a reason to visit Mary, though.
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That sounds so scary Sue–we are spoiled in this day and age with our ready access to communications. The fires of 2006 during which we were evacuated twice did not end until early October when it rained/snowed. We’ve had about an inch of rain over the last two days–some of that fell during a very powerful thunderstorm last night with awful lightening–let’s hope it didn’t start any new fires!
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Love your blog sweet friend! We are selling our Foretravel. Read you are looking for one! We have found a home near Bull Shoals Lake. Fixer upper so we decided to downsize RV. We are asking $125,000. We can negotiate some. Great RV for you! I have a couch cover for the cheetah🙄😂 love you and hoping to see you soon. Tell Mike I could use his expertise a lot with this place- what were we 🤔 thinking-it will be a new adventure!
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We too are looking to downsize Donna–I want to be able to drive and I was never really comfortable driving the 40 foot motorhome. Good luck with your new adventure–I will be in Arkansas in late October–we should make it a point to get together!
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That’s why Emmi likes us-no dog competition!! Hope your smokey air clears off.
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That may be Geri but she also just loves you guys, dogs or no dogs.
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How awful (for everyone) that the smoke is. Hope it clears up soon, and, of course the fires are contained. Hope you find the motorhome that is just right for you real soon…. winter’s comin’ on!
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Yep, winter is coming Sharon–but we traveled home from Arizona to Montana in just the truck–not our preferred method but doable. The smoke is awful again today–ugh!
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Good luck on your search for a motorhome. It will be hard to replace the one you had. I’ve been miserable with all the smoke. Almost had to call Emergency last night. 😐
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I’ve thought about you often with all this smoke wondering how you were doing. Is there anywhere you could go??
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So sorry you are having so much heavy smoke. The silver lining is the beautiful sunset photo:) Glad you had a fun visit with your friend, and her puppy is so cute. Hope you find a suitable MH soon. Love the turkey family:)
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Our temps have been wonderful and 75 degrees with rain just doesn’t go with all this smoke–it must not be raining on the fires. We are still searching!
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Just yesterday I was saying I’d rather be in the this humidity than the smoke in the west. I’m praying this isn’t our new summer normal, but it sure seems that way the last few years 😦 Maybelline is precious.
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